What Yuma, Colorado Wells Are Really Like

How deep are wells around Yuma?

How much water do wells make near Yuma?

Yuma wells usually reach the 300-to-380-foot range

Yuma’s permitted wells are not typically shallow wells. The median total depth is 340 feet, with the middle half between 300 and 380 feet. The 90th percentile is 414 feet, and the deepest recorded well is 750 feet.

Depth varies with the local geology and the target aquifer. Records identify 376 wells in unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifers, 297 in the Ogallala, and 7 in the High Plains Aquifer. The depth mix is also telling: 81% fall between 300 and 600 feet, while 19% are between 100 and 300 feet. A driller bidding a Yuma lot should price a hole in this general range, while allowing for the possibility that the target water-bearing zone is deeper.

Most recorded Yuma wells make useful production

Among the 158 wells reporting pump yield, the median is 20.0 gallons per minute. The middle half runs from 15.0 to 43.8 gallons per minute, and 84% report more than 15 gallons per minute. That is a stronger production profile than a buyer should assume from a single low-producing neighboring well.

Only 1% of the reported wells fall between 1 and 5 gallons per minute, 15% fall between 5 and 15, and none are recorded under 1 gallon per minute. These figures describe reported well yields, not a guarantee for an unbuilt lot. Ask for the actual pump test, permitted use, and storage setup. A household well also remains subject to its permit conditions and Colorado’s exempt-well pumping limit of 35 gallons per minute.

Yuma water levels are deeper in the newer records

Only 48 wells report a static water level, so the water-level sample is smaller than the depth and yield records. Within that sample, the median depth to water is 192 feet, with the middle half between 166 and 214 feet below the surface.

The decade figures deserve attention. Median static water level was 147 feet below surface in the 1960s, 196 feet in the 2010s, and 213 feet in the 2020s. Because the later measurements are deeper, the series suggests the water table has declined in the measured locations. It does not prove the same condition on every parcel. Have a qualified professional compare nearby measurements, well use, and current testing rather than relying on the oldest permit record.

Permit history runs from older farm wells to a 2025 record

Yuma’s permit history reflects a long mix of domestic, stock, and irrigation use. The records include 680 permitted wells, with 293 recorded as constructed. Use shares are 46% domestic or household, 29% stock, 35% irrigation, and 2% monitoring.

Permit activity was highest in the 1990s with 91 permits, followed by 86 in the 1970s and 68 in the 2000s. There are 27 permits in the 2020s, and the newest permit year is 2025. The most active drillers named in these records are Wellstone Industries Dba Twiss & Wilson Drilling Inc. (Twiss, Raymond L.), Burgess Well Company Inc. (Burgess, Larry), and Schaal Drilling Co. (Schaal, Ruben T.). Verify current licensing, availability, and scope before hiring any contractor.

A median-depth Yuma well pencils out at $17,900-$30,700

For Yuma’s alluvium and plains sedimentary rock, the drilling rate model is $35-$55 per foot. At the 340-foot median depth, the drilled hole alone is estimated at $11,900-$18,700.

That is not the finished project price. A completed well with pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is modeled at $17,900-$30,700 at the median depth. The estimate can change with access, casing and grout requirements, pump sizing, power distance, trench conditions, and the final depth. Treat it as a planning range for a bid, not a quote. A proposal should clearly separate drilling, casing, development, pump equipment, electrical, trenching, testing, and permit-related work.

PFAS and septic conditions belong on the due-diligence list

Mapped environmental records show 22 PFAS sampling or contamination sites within about 10 miles of Yuma. The same search shows no historic mine features and no EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. Those records do not establish that a particular well is contaminated, but they are a reason to order a water-quality test for the property and review nearby land uses.

Low yield and a dry hole are not prominent in the reported yield sample, but the sample covers only 158 wells. A fractured-bedrock or unnamed aquifer can be less predictable than the overall median suggests. Confirm well separation from septic systems, available building area, electrical access, and drainage before buying. A new septic system also needs suitable soil, reserve area, and room for the house and access improvements.

Check the actual permit before buying near Yuma

Start with the specific well permit and construction report, not the countywide median. Confirm total depth, casing and grout, aquifer description, permitted use, pump test, static water level, and any restrictions. If the property has no well, ask a driller to review nearby wells around Yuma and in the direction of Eckley, Otis, Vernon, Wray, Akron, or Joes where relevant to the parcel.

For a building lot, get a written budget based on the likely depth and include the pump, tank, trenching, and electrical. Test existing water for routine minerals and bacteria, and add PFAS testing when the location or land-use history warrants it. If irrigation or other non-household use is planned, confirm the water right or augmentation requirements before designing the project. Colorado DWR permit records are a starting point, not a guarantee of water on an unbuilt lot.

Well permits by decade near Yuma

What a new well costs in Yuma, CO

How this is built: the median permitted depth here times the per-foot range for this ground, plus the normal system costs. A lot at the 75th-percentile depth (380 ft) would run roughly $19,300–$32,900. See the full Colorado well cost guide.

Environmental sites mapped within about 10 miles

Counts come from EPA, USGS and state datasets layered on the Colorado Well Finder map. A count is not a verdict on any one well; it tells you what to test for.

Buying land near Yuma? Know what it costs to build before you buy the dirt.

A listing photo can't tell you whether a lot is a dream or a money pit. Two parcels near Yuma can carry the same asking price while one needs an $80,000 driveway and a $45,000 engineered septic the other doesn't. The well numbers on this page are the start of that answer. A Tri-Lakes Site Feasibility Report is the rest of it: a licensed general contractor, excavator and septic installer reads the parcel the way we would if we were about to build on it, and puts the real cost in writing before your money is committed.

Spend a little to know. Or gamble a lot to guess. Realtors sell the view and inspectors look at houses that already exist. We're the people who'd build it, so we catch what quietly turns a "great deal" into a budget disaster: bad access, buried rock, steep grade, soil that won't pass for a normal septic, water that's a fortune to reach. And if the lot is good, you've already got a builder ready to do the work, driveway to drywall.

• Instant Online Report, $99 — type the address and get a buildability read on the spot: parcel, terrain and slope, soil and septic outlook. Cheap enough to run on every lot you're shopping.
• Desktop Report, $500 — a contractor's from-the-desk feasibility read: Regulation 43 and county code, GIS parcel data, terrain, flood and drainage, soil and septic viability, setbacks and buildable envelope, nearby well depths from our 591,000-well database, the likely driveway route, and a preliminary site-development cost breakdown.
• On-Site Report, $2,000 — everything above, then boots and a drone on the actual ground: house pad and septic zone located, access and winter conditions checked, rock and soil observed in person, a 15 to 20 page written opinion you can hand a lender or seller. Credited toward your project if you build with us.

Under contract, comparing parcels, or a realtor with a rural listing whose buyers keep asking "what will it cost to build here?" This is the due-diligence step almost everyone skips, and the one that saves the most.

Common questions about wells in Yuma

Keep researching

More in Yuma County

All wells in Yuma County — county-wide depth, yield and cost figures.

Nearby areas